What happens when you get a group of our reviewers reading one book? What happens when it’s a book FIERCELY loved by 5 of the people doing a reread (or read of the rereleased version)? What happens when 3 new people feel the pressure to read a book that everyone else has adored? Join us as we discuss the book, compare it to the original, explain the power of the series, and defend our Hsin or Boyd love!

GIVEAWAY

Brace yourselves for this doozy! The authors, Santino & Ais, are giving away SIGNED PAPERBACK COPIES of Evenfall DC Vols 1 & 2. THIS IS EPIC…because this is NOT RELEASED on paperback! SPECIAL EDITION! Leave a comment on this post by October 7th to enter!

In a post-apocalyptic future, the Agency works behind the scenes to take down opposition groups that threaten the current government. Their goals justify all means, even when it comes to their own agents.

Sin is the Agency’s most efficient killer. His fighting skills and talent at assassination have led to him being described as a living weapon. However, he is also known to go off on unauthorized killing sprees, and his assigned partners have all wound up dead.

Boyd is not afraid to die. When his mother, a high-ranking Agency official, volunteers him to be Sin’s newest partner, he does not refuse. In fact, his life has been such an endless cycle of apathy and despair that he’d welcome death.

In the newly revised Director’s Cut of Evenfall, the first volume follows these two cast-offs as they go from strangers to partners who can only rely on each other while avoiding death, imprisonment, and dehumanization by the Agency that employs them.

120,000 words.

Warnings: Explicit violence, physical and psychological abuse.

Note: This is the first of the two volumes comprising Evenfall, the first book in the ICoS series.

REVIEW:

Thoughts from the first timers –

Ami: I kinda enjoyed this. Oh, the agency stuff confused the heck out of me, but the characters make up for everything else. Oh, and guess what, in this volume (and since I don’t the rest and I prefer to wait for the edited version) I don’t get why people seem to be hating Vivienne. At this moment — remember, an ICoS Virgin here and I’m not spoiled with anything — I thought there was more to her story that just black and white villain.

Sara: I have not read the first version and quite honestly never intended too. The page length alone is not attractive, but I started this and am actually liking it. Which for me, it really saying something because this is not my normal read at all. Far from it. Maybe that is good? Maybe not? *shrugs* I am only 11% in so far and can’t wait to see how these two work together and even like one another let alone have a “romance.” Is there romance of some sort? Hmm.

Sheri: I loved Hsin and Boyd. I loved their broken selves connecting. I loved the fubared agency. I loved their ‘world’. The size had always been intimidating to me….I would much rather have 4 250 page books than a 1000 page book. I don’t have the time to devote to a book of that overwhelming size.

Sara: So I finished this last night. I am IN LOVE with these two! GAH! I don’t know who I love more; Sin or Boyd but they fucking kill me. I loved this and this is not my type of book but I stayed up last night until almost 1am reading because I had to know and then that end? ACK! The UST with them if off the charts and the world building was amazing and vivid and I love France and kitchen talks and these poor lonely and lost souls who have found one another. OMG! The things they do for each other! On my phone, so spoiler tags are hard to do but I LOVE THIS BOOK AND I LOVE THESE BOYS!

Thoughts from the rereaders –

Susan: Gosh…I love them SO MUCH! And this DC version is so much cleaner…I was shocked at how much it flowed. Still a little too much in Boyd’s head at times, but other things really made sense too. I admit, I *hated* Boyd a LOT less in this version. I really could see how young he was and why he did the things he did.

And duh…HSIN!!!! LOVE HIM SO MUCH!

Fuck Thierry. That is all. :)

Rachel: I had the opposite reaction to Boyd, I couldn’t stand him in the new version – I feel that so much of his inner voice was cut out that I couldn’t reconcile his actions with his motives. I finished and had no idea why Hsin would be drawn to him,

Some of the changes work and some were too exaggerated.

Susan: I felt Viv was almost TOO MUCH of a caricature. I mean, I hated her the first time around and I’m not certain how much of her was changed. But damn…was she ALWAYS that awful of a person…with just total hatred towards Boyd?

Xing: I’m just barely 20% into Volume I, so I’m not sure how I feel quite yet. I don’t know if it’s just me, but things are happening quicker than I felt they were. Almost too quick. Was it like that in the original version? *shrugs*

Susan: One thing is for sure…(and I’m not quite certain why this is moreso in this series than others)…after reading this again – I can’t get these characters out of my head! I’ve been thinking about Hsin and Boyd all day…missing them while not reading. What is it about them that does this? I can’t figure it out.

Rachel: In the original you didn’t get much of Hsin’s POV either, so their relationship seemed almost somewhat abrupt – but I preferred it more, because it had soooo much tension building and the awkward lust just hanging in the air – it made for a more powerful UST. Where as I am finding that I feel the relationship in the DC version is feeling very forced to me.

Shelley: I can’t believe how torn I feel. I mean, I LOVE this series, I LOVE being back with Hsin and Boyd and oh man, oh man these guys are like an addiction all over again. I love that Boyds inner monologue was reined in but then I really missed all the inner torment and struggles.

So far, the original is still my favorite. But this works for a quick reread and a Boysin fix.

Xing: It’s difficult to review without making the comparison to the original version of the series. The story definitely moved faster than the equivalent portions of the original version.

While I understand the authors’ decision to tighten up the story, I felt like it ultimately changed the reading experience. While I can’t say exactly what portions were changed, and how exactly it was edited, my impressions of Boyd really differed. In the original portion, he wasn’t my favorite character, but his introspection made me at least understand where he was coming from. Sure, his brain rattled off consistently and for pages on end, but there were moments that drew me into his construct of the people and world around him. In the DC version, he just felt like an emo boy with mother issues once that introspection was stripped/edited down. Needless to say, I wasn’t very thrilled with this new impression, as most of the story is told from Boyd’s POV.

Rachel: I’m struggling with this DC version – I love these characters – I do. I heart Hsin just as much after reading the Director’s Cut as I did the original. The characters are five star characters, but in need of a professional editor to rescue them from a three star manuscript. The new version is still flawed, there are some content changes for better or worse, but I can’t stress enough that this series continues to feature my favorite cast of characters. The story arc, writing and even relationship pacing are not without their flaws – but the characters are so wonderfully flawed they are perfect

Susan: I’d say that I’m glad I read the original and glad to read the DC version as an add-on or as Shelley put it a “Boysin Fix” ha! I’ll chime in that I went ahead and read Vol 2 and I LOVED IT!!!! It was a hot little book there! LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT!

We had some disagreement and some frustration on our thread.

Sara: If so much has changed, why bother?

Jenni: Y’all have said so many negative things about it this thread that I sorta don’t have the energy to read it! I know you’re not giving anything away…it’s just hard to get excited about it. :)

Ilhem: Yeah, but they also say that they LOVE the characters. Also, it’s hard for them not to compare because they loved the 1st version so much despite its flaws.

This first time is yours. Read it, love it, hate it, show us what it is like to read it for the first time!

Rachel: Maybe for those of us who have read the original it is kind if like the cinema effect – like when Hollywood makes a book you love into a movie .. That sucks just because you know how good the book is. The DC version is feeling like my Hollywood movie of the original. If it is any consolation, what made the original version of ICoS such a hit and regarded with adoration for so many readers – the characters and their relationship – are inherent to both versions and their development executed as thoroughly. So what made the original version enjoyable also makes the DC version enjoyable.

Sheri: I was SO excited as I devoured the first book and stopped by the thread a few weeks ago and froze. I didn’t know what to say. So I wandered back out with my lips shut tightly. I felt like everything was a comparison to the original and I wasn’t able to chime in and comment, since this was my first read.

Ami: I will still read Volume 2 and again, will try to steer away from the original reactions and the fans of this book. It will give me better head space to enjoy it I guess.

All in all, it remains a favorite series for many of us…and I think some new fans were made! Definitely recommend reading on through Vol 2 (you’ll love it!). And…not like we could stop you…but best of luck to everyone who braves Afterimage next. (Susan: The single most emotionally painful book I’ve ever read!) Yay! :D

OK. this is seriously one of my all time favorite things that I have ever read. both versions. I have such fond memories of the first time I read this series. I re-read this ALL THE TIME and every time I go through a major roller coaster of emotions. its almost as good as reading it the first time but thankfully with a lot less nail biting while waiting for new chapters to come out. I love the flow of the DC and as they become available one of the first things I do is load them into my Kindle (which goes everywhere with me) because of that I also recommended this to a lot of people that I know who are looking for something epic to hold their attention and they love it too.

I can only join all of you here! The first time I read this series I was blown! Gobsmacked like never before. It was an emotional rollercoaster to the end. While reading it I coulnd’t even concentrate on my studies properly…XD But this series is worth it!

From the beginning to the yet unknown end…I’ll be here reading the delicious madness you create for us. :) On a more serious note, through the DC versions I got to see the change in your writing style a little bit. Keep up the good work…to the next book :P

Being a hopeless ICoS addict (just finished the director’s cut versions and couldn’t help but continue to the next volume (third or fourth time around, I lost count…). I absolutely adore Boyd and Sin, so would really love a paperback version.

What can I say? I read the original books a time ago and now I started with the first DC…That was not a good idea. After the first part of Evenfall I went directly to the last part, “Fade”. I finished today and have the same feeling like the first time I read it – I want more! I know it is selfish, sorry. But I do not want to let those two go away.;)
One of my favourite books of all time! Thank you so much!

I’ve read the series at least twice all the way through (including Aftermath). It’s definitely a favorite and actually introduced me to this post-apocalyptic era. I’ve browsed other books based in similar worlds because i enjoyed ICOS so much.

I like the characters so much. Hsin and Boyd are flawed which makes the story so much more believable and enjoyable. General Carhart and Emilio? Kassian, Ryan, and Owen. Bree? I love everybody. The backset of the Agency just brings it all together.

rookie fan here. just started immersing myself in the iCoS universe and am making a slow but positive headway with the books. an old-fashioned reader at heart so i would dearly love to get the paperbacks.

Thank you Thank you. I received the most phenomenal e-mail this morning that said, “Congratulations! You are the winner of the signed paperback copies of Evenfall DC Vols 1 & 2!!!!” Talk about the best beginning to a day ever. Can hardly wait for them to arrive. Thank you again.

I’m at a complete LOST of words, any words that would adequately describe the the various emotions I feel right now. But, one word sticks out clearly: Torture. I constantly felt like I was being tortured and not the sweet torture. Pure. Fucking. Torture. I lost count over how many times I had to stop reading because of something that happened between Boyd and Hsin that I literally couldn’t or didn’t want to process. This cycle would continue until I was completely finished with the series. Yet I never once wanted the story to come to an end. I felt each character was so real it was as if I was reading a long journal of a personal friends life experiences. I fell in love with the love they shared because it was beautifully tragic in such a way that woke me the hell up. I NEED that from time to time because I’ll latch onto a story from beginning to end even if it lacks substance. But, it feels really good reading about something that has so much substance it’s jumping off of every page. By the time they finally got back together at the end of “Fade” I was savoring every word and gesture, sometimes actually doubling back to re-read paragraphs because it was just that yummy to me. To Santino and Ais job well done! I’m hoping that Hsin and Boyd’s story isn’t complete.